Found Souls
by SalTheCat
Summary: A fic detailing a better life for Wirt and Greg both, as Wirt accepts his role as the latest in a line of power and memories passed down over billions of years, as well as guardianship of the Unknown. As he changes and his powers develop, he continues to protect his brother, even when life has other plans and heartache in store. THE IMAGE IS NOT MINE: belongs to respective owner
1. The Caretaker

**Found Souls**

A/N: Wirt, Greg, Their Mom, Greg's dad, Beatrice, The Beast, The Unknown, and all the rest of the people, places, and themes from the series proper DO NOT belong to be. Please don't sue me.

The Forest was cold,

Lifeless

But in it, not far from a tree of oil, covered in many faces, no longer shrouded in shadows from the world, a soul was changing, reshaping into something more.

For Many eons, even Billions of years, power had been passed down.

Power

Memories

And Guardianship of the Unknown

The Unknown was a place of light, happiness, made for those who needed to flee from the world and reside there, as well as those in between the realms of life and death. Like two sides of a coin, always together but also apart, the physical and half-death half-life realms of the Unknown coexisted.

And The Caretaker was the center of it all.

He guided those who were lost, bringing those who had fled to the Unknown in need out once it was safe.

He prepared those who were getting ready to travel on the realm of death for the Greatest Unknown of them all and those who were lucky enough to return to life spread the word of the Caretaker and The Unknown. Those on the physical plane stayed there, and their families and lives flourished.

Edelwood trees were in abundance, faceless trees with colorful buds that spread across the land each spring. They were the symbol of the Unknown.

But time passed.

Memories faded

And soon, only a lucky few made their way to the Unknown.


	2. In The Woods

Wirt was in the forest, breathing hard.

The lantern was in hand, flame burning bright.

Greg was encased in tree branches, coughing out leaves

Beatrice was pulling at the tree branches

The Woodsman had long fled

Wirt was on his own.

He held the lantern up to his face, ready to blow out the flame, from the trees, the Beast hissed. "͉͙͈̣̳͍̤̐̎̒͗̎̄̿̚Ś̝̮̖̰̬̝̓̿̎̿̌̅̓ẗ̤̠̯͉̭̬̓͗̍͊̂̒́̃̏̿̚ò͕͍̜̝͙͑́̄̈̈́͂p̬̘̫͎̗̞͙̠̂̓̈́͛͊̐̽͑͛̌!̳̤̟͇̤̙͕̪̱̞͓̣̾̌̿̔̊̀͌̿"͎̫͕̳̤̲͈̤̗͙̥̄̆̿̋̅͊̇͂́̾ he streaked twords Wirt, but he was too late.

He blew on the lantern.

And all of a sudden it was over. A _mist_ hovered in front of him, green and silver and gold and other colors he could not name, swirling around in a vaguely spherical shape. He reached out in curiosity, _instinct._

And he touched the mist.

All of a sudden he was on the ground, as _memories_ and _instincts_ that were not his own flowed through him. He faintly heard… yelling? It sounded like the Woodsman. Looks like he hadn't run away after all. He fell unconscious as he felt the faint feel of cold, hard ground underneath him.

A/N: from here on out updates will be posted exactly twice weekly, at around 8:40 am central time on Tuesdays and Thursdays until the school year ends in a month. An update on my schedule will come about a week before. If the updates aren't in by 9:30 then expect them in the afternoon. 4:15 or so. Chapters will be fairly short, but I hope to make up for that in volume. Enjoy and thank you for reading my first ever fic!


	3. The Pain of Those Before Him

Beatrice screamed as Wirt hit the ground, eyes half open, limp on the dirt. At at least she think she screamed. It came out more like a squeak.

The Woodsman came barreling right into the clearing screaming some nonsense about the Beast.

But right now she was to worried about Wirt to care. She rushed to his side, pecking frantically at his shoulder. Thankfully he quickly stirred. "Wirt!" she said urgently. "Wake up!" "huh?" he murmured. "Wake up, you wonderful mistake of nature! You defeated the Beast!" "I did…?" he murmured. "I feel… odd" "yeah, well that doesn't matter now, you need to get Greg and go home" she shot back. His eyes immediately flew open. "Greg!" "yeah dork, lets go get him" Beatrice replied. Wirt stumbled to his feet, Beatrice hovering near him, egging him on, but when he saw his brother, he somehow found the strength to run over to his brother, dropping to his knees in front of the edelwood that partially encased him.

"Stand back" the Woodsman murmerd, "I can cut him free" they both stood back a little, Wirt leaning sharply to the side, until Greg was free. "There we go" the Woodsman said as he moved to heft Greg up gently, but Wirt, already feeling stronger, shot forward faster than he knew he could and scooped up his brother. "We need to get him home." "Agreed" The Woodsman said. In Wirt's arms Greg stirred and moaned slightly "Wirt?" "Greg!" Wirt Called out in relief. On instinct more than anything he used the contact with Greg's skin to send healing magic into his system. His mind felt… odd. Like there were memories that were not his, yet his all the same. Déjà vu from the Unknown around him swirled through his mind. His memories of those who came before told him what he was, who he was, same as he could feel the trees and the animals around him, same as he could feel and knew that once he returned to the physical plane back in his small Minnesota town he would collapse and run a high fever for several days as magic coursed through his veins, changing his cells, and new organs would develop as his body changed to suit the new lifestyle he would live as the caretaker of the Unknown.

He remembered _being _a young latina woman, dancing across the water as she figured out how to inflate the organs on the soles of her feet full of a buoyant gas produced by her/_his_ body. He remembered a middle-age man with a wife and two kids drowning, drowning, drowning, as blurry, helpless faces looked on above and finding as he drew a breath of water in desperation, that he had gills, opening on the sides of his neck as his panic was converted into shapeshifting. He knew his body would change and grow if he wanted it to. But otherwise he would remain like this forever.

He would live on as his parents, brother, friends, passed on.

He remembered it all too clearly, and he felt the pain of those before him as his own.

A/N: So I forgot to say this previously, but Wirt and Greg live in a world where a magic is a kinda a known thing, but not very accepted. Magical creatures are fairly highly prejudiced against, though things like college degrees for Magic and Magical creatures exist, and testing for people to see if they develop some sort of magic. Most people don't like magical creatures, so there are detectors to pick up the traces of magic that cling to any supernatural, as they are also called. Wirt is easily powerfull enough to disguise his magic into the levels of a minor nature spirit and does this 99% of the time. You never know when some nutjob is running a handheld detector to bother some innocent creature just trying to get through the day.  
Also Thanks to Sofrito, GodFrogger, and MafiaT-Rex (you know who you are!) for actually giving a darn about this because my family sure didn't. appreciate it


	4. Back Home At Last

But those kinds of dark thoughts were for another time.

"_Alright" _he thought. "_Just… stay calm" _he used a trick his school counselor had taught his class once for anxiety and panic. Who was he? Wirt Callihagn. Where was he? The Unknown (_home_, a small voice at his mind whispered) What was he…? He knew what he was, but parts of him still wanted to deny it.

"Wirt?" Beatrice's voice cut through his thoughts. "you need to get home" right, home. "Oh!" He said suddenly. Shifting Greg in his arms, he reached in his pocket and pulled out the bird scissors. Beatrice gasped when he pulled them out. She flew into his shoulder in hug, whispering a thank you. He told her she's absolutely welcome, and after extracting a promise from the woodsman to snip off her wings he hurries off through the trees, as he knows if he stalls too long, there will be no going back home for the both of them.

He's not entirely sure how he got home, though a voice at the back of his mind whispers he very well will understand once the transformation period passes, tough he ignores it and plows on until he is suddenly in a pond, sinking like stone before the tide.

A/N: the last line is from "The fight is over" in Episode 9. I highly recommend finding the soundtrack on YouTube and listening to it. It's amazing! As always, Thanks for reading!


	5. Edelwoods

He turns his head down, already feeling hazy and lethargic, but he sees Greg and Jason Funderburker sinking below him. He kicks his feet, diving down and grabbing the frog as well as Greg, and quickly surfaces, collapsing on the riverbank after a weak cry of "help."

He drifted for a while in a feverish haze, only really waking when they plugged a IV into his arm, accompanied by a stab of pain as he drifted off again. We woke later, still in a hospital bed, his mom sat next to him, reading a book. Not yet alerting his mom to his wakefulness, he took a silent stock of himself. He felt weird, but at the same time… _normal. "_Mom?" He murmured. "Wirt!" She relivededly hugged him. "How are you feeling?" "Okay, I suppose" he replied. Even though he knew perfectly well what had happened, he knew him mom would be expecting him to ask so he said in a crackly voice he didn't have to fake "what happened?" "You fell in the pond over the cemetery wall. You nearly _drowned!" _Wirt resisted the urge to sigh. His mom was a good mom, but slightly overprotective and tended to fall into hysterics as the slightest provocation. "Mom…" he said "I know!" She burst out. "I know i'm getting hysterical, but you and Greg nearly died, and you've been so sick the last few days, and, and…" She sighed. Wirt sighed as well, a defeated slightly sad sigh. "Mom, there's something I have to tell you" she started to say something back until they hear "wiiiiirt!" coming down the halls as Greg barrels into the room, followed more sedately by Jonathan, his stepdad. Greg bounces on his bed, babbling excitedly about the Unknown. And Mom sighs. "Greg honey, what did we tell you… the Unknown was just a dream" she said it gently but it was enough to immediately send Greg on the defensive. "No It wasn't! Right Wirt?" Wirt nodded. "Yeah… Mom, Jonathan there something I really need to tell you that… that happened while we were in the Unknown" He can tell his mom is exasperated. She had already been severely fed up with Wirt practically bullying Greg for Greg's whole life so when she mentions the Unknown she practically explodes and launches into a lecture about being nicer to his little brother and he needs to stop teasing him and such, while Jonathan nods along. Wirt is growing increasingly frustrated, already feeling lonely and kinda sad. He _needs_ to tell someone. He knows that if he stalls now, refuses to say something, it will only lead to strife down the road. He needs to tell _someone _about his situation, because he knows if he says nothing, then his mom and stepdad will struggle even more later. He's always been an open person, and felt he needed to tell someone for his own mental well-being. (Okay, maybe he's being a bit dramatic) But their talking, talking, talking. Lecturing, lecturing, lecturing. Suddenly anger rises up inside of him. Why won't they just listen!

"Would you _please _just listen!" He yells, and all of a sudden roots break through the hospital floor and wrap themselves around the feet of his mother and stepdad.

A/N: So… The Edelwoods… They were originally faceless trees, that were the symbol of the Unknown. Then the Beast came along and screwed EVERYTHING up. Hopefully later I'll work into the story why the Beasts soul depended on a lantern unlike other caretakers before him.


	6. Edelwoods: Part 2

He put his hands up to his mouth in shock, tears already leaching through his half closed eyelids as he stares, just _stares_ at what he's done. Edelwoods. _Edelwoods. _He's just like the Beast, he's a monster, he… Jonathan's voice breaks through his thoughts. (And it's full of fear, they are scared of him and that's something he never wants to hear again) "uh Wirt? Was this your doing?" He whimpers a soft yes and concentrates intently on staring at the floor in shame.

"Wirt…" His mother says surprisingly gently "can you free us?" "yeah I can" he murmurs, it would only take a thought, it would be so _easy_ to move those roots up instead of down, and then they would be trees, perfect edelwoods, _servants…_ he stopped that thought right in its tracks and moved the roots downward until they slunk back to the exterior wall they came from and retreated outside and into the ground. "Mom… I… sorry… I just…" he stammered "sorry" he muttered lamely, looking at the floor. "Wirt, honey" his mom says, kneeling on the floor next to his hospital bed. (he belatedly notices how Greg is very still in his lap and he panics thinking that maybe Greg is panicking, but he glances down to see the expression of pure wonder and joy across his face and he immediately knows that Greg has no fear of the roots, only excitement that his brother can do something so cool) his mom starts to say something else but Greg cuts in. "Wirt! You can grow trees!? Then standing up in Wirt's lap in a move that was more painful than it sounded to his fragile body, he shook Wirts shoulders, somewhat lightly but still enough to make him wince and give a small cry of pain that Greg doesnt notice. "DO YOU HAVE ANY IDEA HOW COOL THAT IS!" He shouts "You can grow plants! I bet you could do all sorts of cool stuff!" That makes Wirt wince but say softly "your not… you're not scared of me?" Greg makes a phhstt sound of 'yeah right' and says "well your my brother, why would you hurt me?" and that very nearly makes him cry but his mom and stepdad are even more anxious for answers and his mom seems to realize something with a start and grabs Greg right off his lap, scooping him up and _holding him away from Wirt like he was some kind of monster_. She puts him on the ground where Johnathon scoops him right back up, much to his chagrin. His mom turns to face him, a cautious expression on her face. He can tell she wants answers and he's willing to provide them but… "Wirt?" She asks. All at once he talks, he tells her what he is, and it feels so good to get the weight that was already crushing him off his shoulders, but when he's done he curls up tight on himself, knees to his chest. Of course then because the Universe evidently hates him, a doctor walks in right then and tells them all they need to leave for a few minutes so they can give him some drugs or something to help lessen the chance of hypothermia wreaking more havoc on his body. He also faintly hears that he can leave in the morning (Friday) and attend school on Monday after the weekend. He is told, as if from a distance that he has been slipping in and out of a coma for a week, but it all feels distant. Maybe it's the drugs that have already been shot into his bloodstream but he feels distant. A small voice at the back of mind, a whispers says he will have to fix the damage they are inadvertently doing to his body later, but for right now he just want to sleep.

A/N: I toyed with the idea of Wirt not telling anyone, but I feel like his bad anxiety's would make that very short lived. Plus I would have to rewrite a bunch of chapters I have in reserve. Till next time fam! Thanks for reading my first ever-fic! I apologize for the crappy quality of my writing but hopefully I have a new TAU Fic on the way. An update on my schedule for summer is next chapter!


	7. Reflections

Maria Finch, Mom of Wirt Callihagn and Gregory Finch sighed as she did google search after google search. _The Beast, the Unknown, The Caretaker of the Unknown, Edelwood tree. _Nothing. Not like she expected anything. She sighed and glanced next to her to the hospital bed with Wirt in it, asleep in a drugged haze. It wasn't like she didn't believe Wirt, she has seen the tree roots as much as Jonathan, and had caught Jason Funderberker the frog playing the family piano and singing yesterday afternoon. But she just didn't know what to think. Her son, the dorky boy who loved his clarinet and poetry more than almost anything, a magical creature and leader of a place that was billions of years old? It just was hard to process more than anything. She resolved to pull Wirt aside out of earshot of John or Greg and ask him about the full extent of his powers. Did he still need food? Water? Did he absorb sunlight like a plant? Was there anything special she needed to get him? What about in the long run? Would he still grow up? She sighed again. So many questions, so few answers.

It was right after they called he back in and told her she could visit Wirt after they sent her away for ten minutes to let them put some drugs in his system and fall asleep in peace. She hoped her little boy was okay. That reminded her, she would have to call Wirts dad and twin brother.

Steve Callihagn has never wanted more than one child. All he had wanted was a heir to his giant accounting company, so by the time Wirt and Steve Jr. Callihagn were born, their marriage was already a bust. Too much pressure from their parents to marry too early. It was a clean break, and after a name change on Maria's part and some divorce papers it was arranged so that every first summer, Steve Jr. came for two weeks, and every second Summer, Wirt went to them.

Maria had dated around for a several years before she met Jonathan, and fell in love with him very fast. 3 years later, when Wirt was 7, they got married. Two years after that, when Wirt was 9, Greg was born. With a sigh that were becoming all too common lately, she picked up the phone to call Steve. This was going to be annoying.

A/N: I know it's not very plausible and kinda bad and stereotypical writing that Wirt has a twin brother but I wanted another character to kinda contrast and be in the same grade as him to kinda be just a downer and someone who looks down on Wirt and hopefully eventually finds out about Wirt being the Caretaker and gets owned. You guys will see, he plays an important role later…

Also schedule update!: starting The First week in June updates will be Saturday with new TAU fics randomly on the side. I have a new TAU series that I plan to finish then post the whole thing over several weeks called After the Restart. I'll finish it before posting so I don't have to write two series at a time :)


	8. Fire

The weeks had passed quickly, Wirt had been released from the hospital perfectly healthy and had gone back to school, telling no one, not even Sara about what specifically had happened. 9th grade was tough, and all the days he had missed didn't help. He had had a talk with his mom, told her the specifics of what he was now, how he didn't truly need food, but he needed energy that he could get from food, sleep, or photosynthesis.

She was surprisingly understanding

While he may or may not have had a mental breakdown the day after they released him from the hospital, all in all, he was adjusting well.

Right now he was in the Unknown, sitting in a tree, soaking up the sun. It had been raining for days in their small town of Edina, MN and he wanted some sun, so a few hours ago had asked his mom to go to the Unknown and check up on everyone and absorb some sunlight. She has agreed, as long as he was home by bedtime.

Then she was there.

She was right next to him, his mom, covered in burns, and he immediately knows without a doubt that she is a spirit, halfway in between death and life. She chokes out one word, "fire" then disappears and he knows again, without a doubt, that she is dead. From there on out it's all a blur.

His mind spins but he jumps off the branch and runs, and the world blurs around him and all of a sudden he is standing on the bottom of a pond, he jumps out and runs, through the graveyard, past the tombstone of Quincy Endicott (there is no body buried, the headstone was erected after he went missing, into the Unknown, but no one knew that) he runs out of the graveyard a speed he didn't but at the same time knew he could manage. A fire engine roars past, he follows it, a sinking feeling in his stomach. It arrives at his house, fire is coming out of one of the downstairs windows, his parents room, he refuses to think about that now. His thoughts are blur of _Greg, Greg, Greg_. He races inside, past the firefighter who try to hold him back into the house with a shout of 'it's okay' to the firefighter and a spell on the doorway to prevent others from coming inside. (he doesn't want more firefighters risking their lives for him and Greg, he's got this) He pulls his cloak out of thin air, full of protection spells he placed on it and dashes upstairs to where Greg is sleeping in bed. "_Thank goodness" _he thinks. That kid can sleep through anything. He dashes outside again, fire licking at the cloak he wrapped Greg in, grabbing his tea-kettle hat off the front table. He shoves Greg into the arms of a waiting paramedic and dashes back inside. The den: their childhood memory boxes. The front closet: A 'fireproof' bag full of important documents. Birth certificates, house and car ownership papers, proof of citizenship, that kind of thing. Then, gathering up his power he takes a deep breath and uses magic to send everything in the house not on fire to the Unknown, to the tall, magical, tree that has been the residence of dozens of caretakers before him. He had been fixing up rooms for his mom, Johnathon, Greg, and himself as a surprise. With the trees permission of course. It was a sentient tree, able to expand itself at will and on a moments notice. They didn't really have a name, but they were quite intelligent and had been happy to see a new Caretaker.

Satisfied he goes outside, unscathed only to be set upon by paramedics and firefighters, who are relieved to see him unhurt, though they insist on him going to the hospital with an unharmed Greg to be examined. He acts fine, he supposes, but inside he is crying. _Mom. Johnathan_. Gone. Dead. Burned up. If he had been there he could have stopped it.

But he wasn't

And he didn't

A/N: Ah, depression once again… Poor Maria and Jonathan. Sorry to kill them off, but… well sorry… (clears throat) as always thanks for reading, and yeah. Tune in next week!


	9. In the hospital

_Greg is okay_

_Greg is okay_

That's what Wirt tells himself as he sits in the hospital waiting room as he waits for them to finish examining Greg. He could have healed him himself but he was too drained from his exertions at the house.

Jason Funderberker was in his arms, lucky frog had been outside using the bathroom when the fire had started and had actually been the one to pound as hard as he could on the neighbors door. Admittedly, that wasn't very hard but at least he had done something.

The firemen had already been in the house.

They had told Wirt the fire had started from the faulty wood burning fireplace in their room.

Wirt has always joked that that faulty fireplace would be the death of them.

A tap on his shoulder, his dad's secretary. She sighed. "Where is your brother"

"being treated" he shot back sullenly. She sighed at sat down next to him to wait for Greg.

It has been in his Mom's will that he would go live with his dad and stuck-up twin brother, and his stepdad had trusted his Mom enough that the same arrangements had been made for Greg.

Wirt was sure the only reason his dad had agreed to take them if something… went wrong was to keep his mom happy and keep her from putting up a fight for Steve Jr., though Wirt called him Stevie.

Stevie hated that nickname.

His dad's personal secretary was a mean woman (Who Wirt simply referred to as The Secretary) that his dad employed for the sole purpose of chauffeuring Stevie around and as his go between for people who wanted to talk to him.

Himself.

Stevie.

Greg, once. (he had been 4 and had stolen Wirt's phone to meet his step dad out of curiosity.

Greg was officially deathly scared of The Secretary from that day forward and had never done it again)

And… His mom.

Just then Greg ran right out of a adjoining hallway, quickly followed by an exasperated nurse. He looked around, spotted him with a cry of "Wirt!" he ran straight into Wirt's arms, (Jason Funderburker barely had time to hop out himself) quickly followed by a soft sob. He looked up and Wirt and he could see his red, puffy eyes. "It's not true is it? Is mommy really dead?" The look in his eyes broke Wirt's heart but he said softly, "yeah… i'm sorry… I should have been there… i'm so sorry" "It's okay…" Greg muttered, though his heart wasn't in it. "I miss her already" Before Wirt could respond the nurse who had been standing off to the side cleared her throat. "He's all good to go. Also, i'm sorry for your loss" she said, looking Wirt in the eye. The Secretary, who had no use for emotions, cleared her own throat and sighed. "Come on, Wirt, Greg"

And with that, they left.

(Struggling to worldbuild and write a plot for a book while also worldbuilding and writing a plot for two different series and some random fics on the side)

Also, I just found out my summer volunteer job severely discourages phones, and it's weekdays all summer so…

I guess i'll just write and then type out later, but chapters may be kinda short.


	10. Roadtrip

They piled into The Secretary's immaculate car, Greg unusually silent as he made an effort not to infuriate her. As soon as Wirt was strapped in, he helped Greg set up the booster seat already sitting in the backseat for him. He then sat back in the seat as The Secretary adjusted her rear view mirror and pulled out of the hospital parking lot.

Six and half hours, three bathroom breaks, one stop for a late dinner at a KFC buffet and a stop at McDonalds for breakfast later they were pulling into his dads small Iowa town.

Up until this point the ride had been spent either comforting a crying Greg or crying quietly to himself, but as they pulled up to the long, fancy, driveway Wirt scrubbed his eyes hard. His father was a mean businessperson. It wouldn't do to for him to see he had been crying, mourning for his mother and stepdad.

That would have to come later.

All he had really wanted was good relationship with his dad, he was old fashioned, believing that woman were stupid and useless and the firstborn son was the most important one of the family, because he would follow in his father's footsteps and take over for him when he died, just as he had done with his own father.

Wirt had clear childhood memories of asking his dad to just do things with him, normal father/son things. He had seen a boy his own age playing catch in the park with his father and had begged him to do the same. Dad had only sighed and walked away, flicking a hand at The Secretary and telling her to play catch with him and Stevie.

He had hated every second.

And now, here he was.

No Mom

No John

But he had Greg.

They parked in the garage, and Wirt unbuckled to help Greg out of his booster seat. He yawned, still half asleep, and buried his head in Wirt's chest, whimpering softly. Wirt stiffened. Only a month ago, he would have pushed Greg away, complained to mom that he was being clingy again, but now he only relaxed and stroked his hair comfortingly, mumbling softly that it was okay. Jason Funderberker poked his head out of Gregs bag and gave a soft "rowoar" that Wirt's fairly new skills at understanding animals translated to be a kind of bleary "what" "Stay hidden please" Wirt whispered to the frog. The Secretary did not know about him and Wirt knew the frog would be taken far away and put in a pond or even killed on the spot if his dad or The Secretary or even Stevie found him.

They got out of the car, into the giant, fancy foyer where his father and brother were standing formally in matching suits. (cue mental eye roll on Wirt's part) Greg, his sorrow momentarily forgotten, hopped out of Wirt's arms and ran over to give Stevie a big hug. His appalled expression was really quite funny, as he winced away from the little boy, breaking his impeccable composure. "Hiiiii Brother 'o' mine!" He chirped. "I am not your brother" Stevie said, disgusted. Greg considered that for a moment "Nah, your my brother" Stevie rolled his eyes. He was used to this by now from the summers he had come to visit. Steve cleared his throat and Wirt momentarily hoped he was going to actually say something meaningful, some reassurance it would be okay maybe, or 'i'm sorry about your mother/maria and your step dad/Jonathan'. But he didn't say anything other than "Thank you, Sophie. Steve Jr., please show Wirt and Greg to their rooms." "Yes Dad" he murmured. He turned back towards them. "Come on" they began to climb the stairs as Dad walked into a side room and The Secretary swept after him.

Two days later Wirt stood outside the doors of Elroy High School with his a new school backpack and all the supplies he needed, plus Jason Funderburker so Greg didn't have to bring him to school later, as supplied by The Secretary (Minus Jason of course). Greg was still at home, as his kindergarten class started half an hour after Wirt and Stevie's own school. There was no private school in this town, but his Dad didn't want to put in the work to move just so Stevie could attend a private school and he had grown up here, so Stevie simply attended the local public high school with 'common folk' as he had so eloquently put it.

His brother was a jerk sometimes.

Well, this should be fun.

A/N: Yes, KFC buffets are real things in MN. They are heaven. 10/10 would eat there again.


	11. School

Wirt stepped in the school seconds after Stevie, careful to not to stick to close to him, and followed him to their home room, Mr. Anderson's class. Mr. Anderson was a thin man wearing running shoes. Between the shoes and the overall lankiness, Wirt assumed he was a runner. Wirt took a desk on the opposite side of the room from Stevie, ignoring him entirely. A high voice cleared her throat next to him "you stole my seat, newbie" "_oh so it's gonna be like this" _he thought "_just like some cheesy romance novel"_ he turned to face a slightly pimply girl with a displeased expression on her face. "Sorry" he mumbled. Then clearing his throat asked "what seats are empty?" her face softened slightly and she replied "those ones that make a square around Steve Jr. Callihagn" she said his name with a sneer and Wirt sighed slightly "Thanks"

grabbing his stuff, he settled into a seat behind Stevie.

Mr. Anderson started staring around the room soon after, looking confused. He spotted Wirt and his expression melted into an 'ah, that's why' face and he gestured to Wirt. He headed up to the desk, stopping in front of it. "Your Wirt? Wirt Callihagn?" His face melted into confusion again "are you two…?" he asked weakly, gesturing to Stevie, who was giving them a death glare. "Yeah," Wirt mumbled. "Were brothers, twins. I usually come in the summers for a few weeks but i'm here now for… personal reasons" he squeezed his eyes shut, trying not to cry at the memory of his mom and stepdad. "_I miss you guys…" _Mr. Anderson's face resolved again and he nodded. Just then Wirt noticed how everyone was staring. They must have heard the conversation. He sighed and slunk back to his desk.

Four periods later, it was lunch time.

Cue *crippling* anxiety.

After 15 minutes of being cut in front of, pushed, and quietly insulted in the lunch line he took a seat in the courtyard outside, still silent.

This particular courtyard was simple, a yard with a garden full of painted rocks and sign that proclaimed the Elroy raiders rocked, trees, grass, some flowers, and picnic tables. Almost no one was outside, it was too cold for that, but he didn't mind.

He felt the cold, but it didn't bother him.

Some birds, late to migrate, twittered in the trees, flying about.

Above him, a squirrel chattered as it gathered nuts for the fast approaching winter, talking in an endless chaotic stream of mostly proclamations of how good nuts were and how winter was gonna be cold this year.

He kinda missed the days when he couldn't understand animals.

Noticing him, the squirrel stopped on a branch for a moment, dipping it's head. "Caretaker" It acknowledged very cleary, before moving on.

The very familiar sound of a clearing throat rang next to him and he turned to see the same girl from homeroom, with a bunch of friends all holding trays. "You stole our seat again" she declared, this time sounding much colder.

He didn't even bother fighting back only nodded, grabbed his tray, and moved to a nearby table. "Hey!" she called after him. "Sorry!" he turned back, confused. "What?"

"We were just testing you" she apologized. "We wanted to see if you were as bratty as your brother" she paused "He is your brother right?" "yeah" he replied, slightly wary. "I mean, you seemed nice but we wanted to make sure. Let's start over." glancing at her friends she said "thanks girls, see you later" they nodded.

She stuck out her hand. "My name is Jennifer, you're Wirt right?" "yep," he agreed, shaking her hand. She sat down at the table and patted the space next to her. He sat down across from her, ignoring the seat she specified. "So" she mumbled around a mouthful of school quesadilla. "Why did you move here? I had no idea Steve Jr, had a brother"

"yeah, i'm his twin brother. If anything he's the evil twin, really. I had to move here with our half brother on our moms side to live with dad" he pulled a face. "You two are twins?" she inquired "are you close?"

"heck no" he replied, pulling another face. "We've never been close. Were more like distant cousins that hate each other. We switch off summers coming or going to see each other but they never are fun. I hate them"

They talked for a little while until, at the door, one of the lunch monitors stuck her head out and declared lunch was almost over. Jennifer cleared her throat (_why did she do that so much?_) "It was nice to meet you" she declared cordially, before leaving.

In the tree the squirrel chittered "Well, that was awkward"

"Shut up please"

A/N: Summer Break is making me so happy right now. Right after I post this I'm driving to Minneapolis to see Cristopher Paolini and get my book signed. on that topic, when I have a chance I'm gonna write a Inheritance Cycle series I have been planning for a very long time now


	12. A Place Of Light

When he and Stevie get home, Greg attacks them at the door, babbling about his day. Then remembering all the times Mom told him that he should ask people about their day first before talking about his own he stops to ask politely, "how was your day?"

"okay" Wirt grunts as Greg wraps himself around his legs and continues babbling about his day at Kindergarten. Wirt's day was indeed okay, he supposed. Just as suddenly as his peers had begun snubbing him they had started treating him okay. Not friendly, more wary than anything.

He suspected Jennifer had something to do with that.

It doesn't help one of Jennifer's friends caught him telling that snarky squirrel to shut up.

And Over the next few days he works long hours, working to let the world know about the Unknown, as the place between death and life, but also as a refuge billions of years old.

He remembers, in the time of Horace and Lila and Junior and Han and Rosa and several others, when the Unknown was a bustling place, known across the world not only for being a refuge and the place between death and life, but where on Halloween night, when the barriers were thinnest between the two sides of the Unknown, life and not-life-but-not-death, people came to converse with those who were asleep in a slumber they may never wake up from. They talked, family and friends came to say what may be the final goodbye before next All Hallows Eve. The modern version of the holiday even came from the Unknown, people flocking in groups, migrating to candy just as people migrated to the Unknown to talk with loved ones or even receive advice from those older than them.

But as time passed, people forgot. Religious leaders spoke about how the Caretaker of the Unknown was a demon who spoke lies, that their family members were demon-spawn that imitated those they loved.

The pleas of those who were turned away, called demon-spawn by their loved ones, did no good.

And The Caretaker shared their pain for as the Unknown suffered, so did he.

There was an old saying in reference to the seasons, 'as the Unknown goes, so the world follows', referring to how the Caretaker changed the seasons. It may take the rest of the world a little longer to follow, but they did eventually. Thankfully the Beast had already triggered Winter, so Wirt didn't have to do it, but come spring he would have to do it himself,

But back to his original train of thought.

He wants people to know about the Unknown, he wants people to know that it's safe. In past times, the produce of the Unknown was renowned, the Unknown was a place of light and nature and he wants people to be able to come just like the old days. So he's making a social media page as a trial to kinda see how it works. As much as he doesn't want the Unknown to be some kind of cheesy tourist trap, he wants to make it just like the old days, a place of light.

So here he is, his laptop on his knees, bowl of cheese squares on his lap as he sets up a page for the Unknown and The Caretaker of the Unknown. Greg all of a sudden bursts in, yelling about dinner.

Wirt follows him downstairs, grinning. It can wait.

Being with Greg is more important.

A/N: After Wirt becomes the Caretaker he becomes a vegetarian. He still occasionally eats eggs, milk, and cheese, but meat makes him feel bad, as an animal was killed to make the meat.


	13. Jen

Jennifer, known to her friends as Jen, knew _Steve Jr. _Callihagn

Everyone knew him

Same as they knew how he hated to be called Stevie, (he had FLIPPED the one time someone had

So naturally everyone called him that behind his back)

Same as they knew he was rich and set to inherit a massive accounting company.

But when Stevie's twin brother showed up,

Well that set things to a whole new level of weird.

On one hand he seemed nice, but on the other he was… well…

A Callihagn

Basically synonymous with jerk.

But he seemed somewhat nice.

He hadn't refused to give up his seat or whatever both times she had claimed he was sitting in her spot he had moved without complaint.

Though one of her friends had seen him tell a squirrel to shut up, she didn't think much of it. For all she knew he was a magical creature, some minor shapeshifter or nature spirit. The fact that Stevie didn't seem to have any power didn't bother her either, there was a good chance he had power he kept hidden or Wirt was just the odd one in the family with power while no one else did, and that might explain why he seemed to be the one in the family that just didn't seem to fit.

Plus anyone who Stevie hates was a good person in her book.

But she digressed

Right now they were in first period English and had split into groups assigned by the teacher to analyze "The Cask of Amontillado" and Wirt was flexing on them.

Hard.

He had already corrected several members of the group at least once each, corrections they grudgingly admitted to be true. They were a group of five and working hard, as the winning group received candy for finding the most literary devices and hidden meanings in the story. Wirt's hand was a constant flurry of motion as he wrote out a list of things far too deep for anyone else to process, he already had 20 points with sub points and everything connecting everything from Poe's personal life to the story, to the symbolism hidden in it, to previous works with similar themes and their double meanings that then reflected on this particular story.

They had only been working five minutes.

Ten minutes, 35 more points, and an explanation of each point as Wirt wrote later, the teacher called the class back to order and read through their list, her eyebrows raising more and more as she read through Wirt's points.

She grinned broadly, proclaimed how glad she was that some group was paying attention when she explained how best to analyze a story such as this and asked if she could keep it.

They won the candy

Jen caught her laminating said paper later and hanging it on their wall.

Later, at lunch she had to fend off most of her friends begging her to help with their poetry homework no one had finished yet, and was forced to explain it was all Wirt. She eventually agreed to migrate to Wirt's table in the courtyard and ask him for help.

Oddly enough, there was a squirrel sitting on his table. Chittering away. He was sitting quietly alone, shoveling a salad in his mouth. The squirrel saw them and dashed away, chittering. He glanced at it, watching it go, before glancing over to them.

20 minutes and some very useful help with their poetry homework later, they were sitting and chatting with him, Jen was fascinated to find out that he had a little half brother who had a frog currently residing in his backpack. This particular fact was found out when a loud "ROwaaRR" emitted from his bag. Wirt turned bright pink and sighed. Pulling a large bullfrog wearing socks from his bag, he set it on the table and scolded it "come on Jason. I asked you to be quiet"

The frog croaked again and Wirt sighed and gestured to his tray "go right on ahead"

The frog, Jason apparently, hopped over his tray and stole a bit of mashed potatoes with surprising dexterity from said tray.

"Ummm…?" Jens friend, Marcia, muttered "and that is?"

Wirt flushed slightly red. "That's my brothers frog, Jason Funderberker. He comes with me to school because my brother insisted he should go to school to umm… learn stuff" he shrugged "I bring him with me so he doesn't get in trouble. My brother, that is"

"Well he is so cute!" Abby chirped, scooping the startled frog off the tray. "I'm glad you care about your brother enough to bring him to school so he doesn't have to. Even putting up with him is so sweet. I CANNOT do that with my little sister. How old is he?"

Wirt flushed even more red. "Thanks, and he's five, in kindergarten"

Abby was about to say something else, but Jen cut her off. "Thanks so much for the help"

"And the frog hugs!" Abby cut in, giving Jason another squeeze and handing him back to Wirt.

"And the frog hugs." Jen sighed. "Come on girls, lunch is almost over"

As they trotted away from his table, where he was trying to get (read: bribe) Jason Funderberker back into his bag, a squirrel chattered in the branches above them as the leaves rustled in the trees. Wirt glanced up, and for a moment, Jen thought she saw woody antlers stretching up from his hair, and glowing orbs for eyes in place of his usual dark brown.

She blinked, and it was gone.

The leaves weren't rustling.

Wirt was still trying to get Jason in the bag.

And her friends were in the doorway waiting for her.

With one last glance at Wirt, she rushed inside after her friends.

A/N: Ohh Spoopy. Also hop on over to a oneshot I posted of 'the squirrel'. Cleverly titled SQUIRREL.

Because chasing squirrels is a worthy pastime.

Also this is Saturdays chapter going up early :)


	14. Funeral

Jason Funderberker was being stubborn on the worst day possible.

As Jennifer was walking away Wirt was trying to get Jason Funderberker back in his bag, which he was stubbornly refusing. "Jason…" Wirt all but growled. He could feel his antlers coming out with the stress of the day. He had been getting headaches lately as his antlers grew, becoming larger. The headaches had been growing in severity as his antlers grew taller and taller every time he released than from where they were hidden in his skull. As his annoyance grew, the leaves rustled in the trees dramatically. Out of the corner of his eye he saw Jen stop at the door and glance back at him, confusion prominent on her face. He quickly hid the antlers and willed the wind to calm as he tried to reign in his frustration for the frog. "Jason…" he sighed. "Why do you have to do this to me today of all days?"

Jason's eyes filled with regret and we hopped in bag quickly. Wirt sighed. Four more periods. Four more periods until he would be going back to town, staying the night, then attending the funerals of his step dad and mom.

The funeral was a blow.

Closed-casket ceremony

Two simple eulogy's

Several friends spoke

Each one of them told Wirt and Greg they were so sorry for their losses and if they needed anything…

Greg was crying the whole time in his fancy suit, an old one of Stevie's.

Wirt's was also an old one of Stevie's one he had decided he was bored with.

His father didn't bother showing up.

Sara was there, and Jason Funderberker the human.

They gave him their condolences, and it was good to see them but he hated to see them in such terrible terms.

Sara brought a gift for Greg, a beautiful adult coloring book and a pack of colored pencils, all for him.

Greg hugged them to his chest and whispered a thank you.

She didn't bring Wirt a gift but he didn't mind in the slightest.

It was good enough seeing her.

When Wirt got back home he found a bluebird sitting in a tree, eyes attentively on a sidewalk opposite the way he had come from.

Giving a faint smirk for the chance to scare her, he quietly approached from behind until he was right under her branch.

"Looking for someone?"

"Cheese and crackers!" She shrieked, nearly falling out of the tree. "There you are!"

"Here I am" Wirt agreed sadly, the amusement of the moment gone.

Beatrice was in her bluebird form, but as he watched she shifted to the human form that was her normal guise, a skill she had had ever since her wings had been clipped off. Her real last name was McDonald or something but everyone was already started calling them the Birdies as a joke. The rest of her family had inherited the talent to shapeshift as well, and for the last several weeks, at his request, they had been flying all over the Unknown on their spare time, spreading the word that the Beast was dead and a new, kind, Caretaker had taken his place.

Wirt had been regularly going to the Unknown on weekends and such, fixing the damage his predecessor had wreaked. It was hard, the Beast had decades to basically ruin the Unknown, but Wirt was fixing it, little by little as he drew out the darkness and chased out shades and minor demons.

The Facebook page he had set up as an experiment for the Unknown had been gaining popularity, and the other day he had received an email on the account he had set up for the Caretaker of the Unknown that the Unknown was officially recognized as a magical society by the national alliance of magical society and species. He had been working with Beatrice and the rest of the Birdies to bring things like technology and an actual, stable government to the Unknown. They were contemplating setting it up so a president and various lower officials ran things politically so the Caretaker could focus on the more magical stuff. Even the Woodsman had shown up the the impromptu meeting they had held. He was suspicious of Wirt, but at least he wasn't trying to kill him.

That was an improvement over his predecessor

His history teacher had even given an over enthusiastic lesson on this new magical society that had popped up, pulling up pictures of old sketches on worn pieces of paper and museum photographs of pottery shards featuring the The Unknown and it's various Caretakers throughout the centuries. Someone in the class though to ask why the Caretaker always looked different in the relics. Mr. J looked delighted someone has asked and pulled up the Unknown Facebook page on the smart board. "Well I have been asking the Caretaker several questions on Facebook-"

"So internet stalking him?" Some smart aleck at the back of the class quipped, Wirt turned around to see a loud tiger shapeshifter high fiving his friends at the joke. Wirt resisted the urge to roll his eyes. He wasn't that wrong. Mr. J had been basically stalking his Caretaker account, asking him everything from how old he was to why Caretakers look so different. Wirt has shut him down on most questions, refusing to give his name, age, etc. He knew Mr. J meant no harm, he was a kindly history teacher who loved his job, but that was the internet, anyone could see it.

Mr. J had finished pulling up the page and was showing them the answer Wirt had provided when he had asked about the different Caretakers. Wirt knew all this already, of course, and tuned it out, doodling a new idea for a poem in the margins. It was a bit of a surreal experience for him, having Mr. J at the front of the class talking about him, but not him. He sadly wondered if his life was ever going to be the same again.

That night he heard soft sobbing coming from Greg's room, knocking on the door and entering, he saw Greg curled up on the bed, crying his little eyes out. Wirt didn't bother asking what was wrong. He already knew.

And he comforted his little brother until he finally fell asleep.

A/N: bIg OoF. You know the world is messed up if Greg's Bawling


	15. Poems

School was hard the next day as the grief from the loss of family crushed down on him. Even Jen and that squirrel who he refused to name noticed his depression, but he waved them off. By this time the school had accepted he was a shapeshifter or something and had stopped teasing him about talking to the squirrel.

He wished he could play his clarinet, but the band director had refused to let him join until the winter concert in three weeks so it was just in the closet gathering dust. He couldn't even sit in the courtyard as the school had closed it to students so he couldn't sit outside at lunch anymore.

When he got home he sat quietly on his bed, poetry binder on his lap, as he struggled to find a topic.

Losing his parents?

Struggling at school socially?

When he became the Caretaker?

Then that lead him right down into the rabbit hole train of thought.

How did the Beast become the Caretaker?

He concentrated, scrunching up his nose as he struggled to remember. A lot of the Beast memories were heavily damaged, as if a memory loss disease had ravaged them. But as he concentrated, some bits came back, and he began to remember more.

Diving into the memories of those before him was odd at best.

It was weird, but at the same time it felt… _natural_, as if he was recalling memories of his own from when he was a child. But he dived in.

* * *

During the time known as the American Civil war, there was a man known as Samuel Merker with his wife and two adult sons, plus his Caretaker-in-training, living in Connecticut. When the war broke out Samuel was distraught. Why could they not have peace? Why fight? Against his wishes, his two sons signed up to fight for the Union.

Three months later, he found out they had died on the field of battle side by side.

His wife, already strong-headed and smart decided to sign up to become a nurse on the battlefield. He begged her not to, and in the heat of the moment, threatened to physically stop her. She yelled back, was she a common, submissive housewife to be told no and that was that? He sighed and walked away, head bowed.

His apprentice held his hand and gazed up at him with warm black eyes and told him he was going to be okay.

(_at this point Wirt stopped and struggled, fought with a scrap of memory. What was his name? But it escaped him, well and truly forgotten, and he gave up and continued)_

He later found out his wife had also been killed.

Despairing, he retreated to his house where the soon-to-be-Beast waited. He sunk to the floor, crying. The Beast walked over to him, asking if he was okay and if there was something he could do for him. In that instant, Samuel made a decision.

It was time to pass on.

He asked the Beast if he wanted to take his place, his eyes widened, but he nodded.

Samuel didn't waste one more moment. What was the point? It was time to pass on. The one to come after him was ready, had been ever since Samuel had selected the inquisitive young orphan years ago.

He grabbed his arm, letting the life drain out of him as he transferred the power.

Then he had a _premonition_

That happen occasionally to Caretakers, in times of need or pure luck.

_He sees a land encased in darkness, never to return to the light._

_He sees something that is nothing more than a shadow with antlers towering over all of creation _

_But he also sees a boy in a teapot, half encased in an Edelwood_

_He sees a boy changing far too young_

_He glimpse true darkness and a man with an ax chopping down an edelwood with a face on with _

_He sees a lantern glowing bright in the darkness._

He hates to do this, he hates to subject an unwitting soul to the taxing position of Caretaker when he was to blind in the first place to notice, far too young, but he chooses the lesser of two evils.

He spies a lantern, an ordinary oil lantern, that has fallen to the floor.

Next to him, the one to be known as the Beast gasps at the power flowing through him and Samuel immediately notices the weakness of mind he should have noticed earlier, the kind that drives a Caretaker mad.

He grabs the lantern, forces the rest of his draining power into it.

It flares up.

And as Samuel dies, the power that was such an integral part of him drained, he smiles.

It was his fault, but at least someone would take him down eventually.

* * *

Wirt came back to himself with a slight gasp and a pang of sorrow for the Beast. It wasn't his fault, yet he suffered nonetheless.

Well at least he was at peace now.

And he had a good idea for a new poem now

* * *

A/N: Alright, The next chapter is gonna skip forward a year because I'm too lazy to do character development and junk to fill the gap. I know it's kinda cheesy but whatever. You'll see next chapter :)


	16. Back To The Unknown

A/N: Alright! Enough Slacking Off! Plot Time!

In order to advance the plot I did a time skip for a year as that year would have been Jen and Wirt steadily becoming friends and Stevie becoming a bit better under Wirt And Greg's tutelage. It would have just been boring junk but I hope to start a fic soon titled 'Stories of the Caretakers' literally just little tidbits from the lives of the Caretakers before him and Wirts own life before and after the events of this story. Fear not! Each one will be labeled with the time period it came from, anywhere from the dark ages to pre- events of Found Souls to after this. I know it sounds really scatterbrained but that's how I am so... Enjoy! :)

It had almost been a whole year since he had become the Caretaker, and it was October 30th. Greg, now six was bouncing around the house in his sqrog costume, (he couldn't decide whether to be Fluffernutter the Squirrel or Jason Funderberker the frog so he combined the two) consisting of a fluffy tail, green bodysuit with spots, and felted paws. It had taken forever to put together, but Greg was happy and so Wirt was happy. The next day they were all planning to he trick or treating, Jen, their friend group, Wirt, and Greg. Jen has been hanging around the house, helping them hang decorations, before she had gotten a call and had to rush out, all cryptic about why. Wirt didn't mind too much. More than likely she had forgotten about some date or event and had to leave. She'd done it before. Just then, speak of the devil, his phone rang with her ringtone. Picking it up, he asked, "hello?"

"Hi Wirt…" her voice was miserably sad and Wirt was instantly worried, but before he could ask what was wrong she immediately barreled on, straight to the point as usual.

"MysisterfelloffsomeplaygroundequipmentandhitherheadandnowshesinacomasocanyoutellthesquadIcanttrickortreattommorow?"

Wirt blinked, worried. "Is she okay?"

"They don't know too much quite yet." She sighed. "My parents said maybe we can go to the Unknown tomorrow and see if we can find her spirit but only if either of them can get off work, their boss is really strict and probably won't give them the time off and…" she sounded fairly hopeless.

"Okay." Wirt promised. "I'll text them right now. How much do you want me to say?"

"Everything is okay I guess…"

"Alright done. Keep me posted okay?"

"Okay"

But as the evening wore on with updates from Jen it was looking worse and worse.

And as the evening wore on Wirt made up his mind more and more.

And, unsurprisingly, they could not go to the Unknown.

But Wirt could help, he could send spirits back over the border of life and death back to their body and wake Sophie (that was her name) from her coma.

And Halloween night came

He made his excuses to his friends, leaving Greg in their very apt care, and left the house, walking down the street to the small copse of trees where he could teleport to the Unknown. At one point he thought he heard the faint rustling of leaves behind him but when he turned to look, no one was in sight.

(Anywhere there were trees, he could be, all he needed was another tree to start his journey at.)

Arriving at the small copse, he took a deep breath, allowing his antlers to spiral from his head, free and tall, and his eyes to grow a soft white.

With a _twist _of his power, he was in the Unknown

But not before he felt a hand close around his arm.

He twisted around, plants at the ready in case of an enemy.

Jen's white face stares back at him Stevie was clinging to har hand, pale.

"Wirt…?"

"Jen! Stevie!

"The mother freaking heck…? What in the world?" She gasps as she realizes something. "Your the Caretaker of the Unknown!"

"Yeah…"

"And just when were you planning to tell me and him this?" She glanced towards Stevie "Did you know about this?" She demanded.

"No clue"

"I was gonna tell you Ummm Eventually?"

She Sighed.

"And what are you doing"

"Actually? Looking for your sisters spirit"

"Alright then, let's get a move on."

"Yeah… wait. I can just send you two back."

"Nah. If you're looking for my sister I'm gonna come too" she gestured with her arm "let's get a move on then"

Without further ado, they hurried through the forest, Wirt leading the way to the Old Mill.

Over the last year, Beatrice and her family had been instrumental in organizing the Unknown so it had a proper government and whatever, with a governor to run political stuff and of course the Caretaker to deal with the magic. Quincy Endicott and Margueritte Grey-Endicott had quickly proven themselves as apt leaders and had taken over to co-govern as husband and wife.

They got to the door, and Wirt knocked. While they were waiting for the door to open Jen muttered, "what are we doing here?"

"Asking my friend Beatrice if she's seen Sophie. The Unknown is huge and we won't be able to find her by yelling her name over and over again."

One of Beatrice's brothers, Rory, opened the door. "Oh! Wirt! Good to see you!"

"You too Rory. How are you?"

"Good, good… you?"

"Pretty good."

Gesturing at Jen he said "this is my brother, Stevie and this is Jen. we're looking for her little sister, Sophie. Have you seen her?"

"Actually, we have several spirits wandering all around the place." He gestured vaguely. "Bea went to governor Endicott's place with a group of young ones that he was gonna watch over. Get them some food and clean clothes while they can still interact with our plane and don't have to dig up those things themselves"

"Oh, smart"

"I know right? But you should get going. Halloween Night only lasts so long!"

As they walked away, he shouted after them "and Happy Samhain!"

They hurried off into the night.

In a while, they made it to the manor, a large sprawling structure with peacocks strutting out front. Wirt knocked on the door and when no one answered, opened it and went inside, calling "Uncle Endicott?"

Stevie looked at him and raised an eyebrow. "_Uncle _Endicott?"

Wirt flushed slightly. "Long story. He's not really my Uncle"

"Well I'm know _that"_

Amused, Jen followed him deeper into the house as he periodically called for Aunt Marguerite and Uncle Quincy.

They found them in a common room, drinking tea in armchairs while all around them on the floor and armchairs, children ate, slept, drank, and played. Quincy himself was laughing at jokes a boy no older than 8 was telling him, cheesy but with all the earnestness of the young. Jen gasped and darted over to a little blond girl of about 9 eating a scone and taking to a teen with fiery red hair and a ribbon running through it, calling Sophie's name at the same time Wirt said Beatrice's in a shy hello.

Sophie glanced up and grinned. "Jen!"

"Hey honey. How are you?"

"Great! But I wanna go home. I don't like this place. Too many spoopy scary skeletons and grumpy men with axes"

"Well don't worry honey. We're gonna go home now"

Feeling curious and a little mischievous she glanced over at Beatrice, saying "are you Wirts girlfriend then?"

The look on both of their faces was priceless,not to mention Stevie's incredulousness,especially when Wirt almost fell over.

Beatrice recovered quickly and cackled "I was about to say the same to you"

"Nah, I like to think I'm too gay for that nerd"

Both of them cackled freely this time as Wirt blushed bright pink. "Neither of you are! Your just my friends… who are girls…"

The look on his face finally sent them over the edge as they collapsed gasping for air as they howled. "Ha ha" Wirt muttered. "Can we go now? I wanted to take Greg trick or treating"

"Sure, sure, but quick question, how'd she find out your the Caretaker? Because I think it's safe to assume you didn't tell her" Beatrice asked

Before Wirt could answer Jen cut in "followed him into the woods and grabbed his arm as he was teleporting"

Beatrice cackled freely again as Jen scooped up her little sister. "I think you and I are gonna get along just fine"

Wirt sighed. "Let's just go home"

Another A/N: Alright so Tales of the Caretakers won't come for a little while but 'After the Restart', a new TAU series will come four weeks after this goes up so I have a chance for a break and to stockpile chapters for a new Inheritance Cycle book series. After that I'm gonna post whatever I have written, anything from like 1-6 chapters. Then I have back to back camp and family vacation so that's another two weeks before I'm back and doing things. Hopefully Tales of the Caretakers will be started sometime soon after that. Also, After The Restart will go up after that second /

ALSO sorry for the rambling A/N :)


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